“Galaxie 500.” Never mind that Ford misspelled a word when this big machine debuted in 1959. The car was a rolling homage to a budding space race, when mankind turned its collective gaze to the cosmos.
Ford’s engineers turned their eyes to the engine. The first Galaxie 500s featured 352-cubic-inch V-8s. They pounded out 300 horses underneath immense hoods. In time, Ford would install 429s in the Galaxie line.
Along the way, Ford removed the tops on some Galaxie 500s. The convertible! What could be finer than booming down the big I, that V-8 growling, the wind howling?
But cars, like space races, come to an end. That is the case with this ’69 Galaxie 500. It’s parked underneath a hardwood tree in front of a trailer. Inside the singlewide is someone who no doubt plans some day to make that car run again. It won’t happen.
Asheville, N.C. 210 miles northeast of Atlanta.
It Was Running When I Parked It 